Evening Post: 03/05/01

"Grandparents are ready to march through the streets if the Government continues to ignore their concerns, says the national co-ordinator of Grandparents Raising Grandchildren, Diane Vivian. She says if Government continues to ignore grandparents plight after a series of planned events, there will be nationwide street marches. "We've broken the cycle of abuse", she says, "but we're being penalised for it and the children in our care are being discriminated against".

 

Support groups are mushrooming as grandparents emerge from the isolation they've experienced. There are now 26 groups around the country. It's unknown how many people are in this situation and the group wants a register established. Vivian has surveyed legal firms and found everyone of them to have clients in this position. Grandparents feel let down by CYFS and the Department of Work and Income. (DWI). DWI staff seem to lack the understanding and training to deal appropriately with families and children, she says. The group has made comparisons between grandparents' financial position and that of foster parents. In addition to community funding for child support, foster families are entitled to birthday and Christmas money, school fee's and a clothing allowance. Even in the 50 percent of cases where placement of children with grandparents has been through CYFS, there has been no information about the entitlements. In many cases grandparents find out about the unsupported child allowance only through sheer persistence. It ranges from $71.60 to $102.30 depending on the age of the child. Community funding for the foster parents is between $86.09 to $129.42 a child. "Grandchildren may not be able to go on that all important school trip, pay school fee's or have a school unifrom. Some grandparents are going without food to ensure their growing grandchildren eat properly.

 

Why are we being penalised for wanting the best for our grandchildren," says Vivian. One of the demands is for a limit to the number of allowable number of court hearings. At present grandparents and children face the disruption and expense of custody hearing up to six times a year. A ministry of Social Policy spokesman, replying on behalf of CYFS and DWI, says the Government is aware of the situations that arise when children are cared for by other family members and is working on formulating solutions.

 

Ministry officials recently met with Vivian to give advise on what further non-financial support is available for the affected grandchildren. Until a long term solution is found, specific contacts have been made available at DWI to ensure people had access to information about entitlements. He says the Government is considering how to involve people who have had a signigant relationship to the child, for example grandparents, in the process of resolving guardianship, custody and access disputes and law changes are possible. On the legal aid, the ministry of justice is aware of the problems being experienced by grandparents and is conducting a review of eligibility for legal aid. Where children are in CYFS care, they generally have all their costs met by the state. For those not in CYFs care, the State has no legal responsibility once care and protection issues are resolved. "However despite this, it is realised that the parents can no longer care for the children and in that situation some assistance is provided for their support, as happens for the general population."

 

Other assistance available:

 * The unsupported child benefit.

* The community services card for the child. The disability allowance may also be available where the child has an ongoing disability involving regular medical expenses.

* If a grandparent is on a benefit, they may be eligible for other assistance through DWI.

* If the grandparent is on New Zealand superannuation, they may be eligible for family assistance through the IRD."

 Margaret Willard wrote this article for The Evening Post.